1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a separable door hinge for motor vehicle doors and including two hinge halves having each at least one gudgeon and attachable, respectively, to one of two parts of a door assembly, a door and a door pillar, and a hinge pin for pivotally connecting the two hinge halves with each other, with the hinge pin being rotatably supported in the at least one gudgeon of one of the two hinge halves with a running fit by a bearing sleeve formed of a maintenance-free bearing material, and with the hinge pin being form-lockingly secured in the at least one gudgeon of another of the two hinge halves without a possibility of rotation relative to another of the two hinge halves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the course of manufacturing of a motor vehicle in a contemporary plant, motor vehicles doors are mounted on a vehicle body for their adjustment and varnishing, then during further assembly of the motor vehicle, the doors are taken off, and finally, after being fitted with handles and the like, they are again mounted on the motor vehicle. The initial mounting of a motor vehicle door on the vehicle body provides for proper fitting of the door in the vehicle body and enables to simultaneously varnish the vehicle body together with the door, which insures uniform painting of both the vehicle body and the door. However, this sequence presupposes that the doors are mounted on the vehicle body in their initially adjusted position. Therefore, in order to be able to mount the doors on the vehicle body, during the second mounting, in the initially adjusted or fitted position without any problem, different measures are undertaken. This is achieved, at least in part, by selecting appropriate door hinges.
A suitable door hinge for this purpose has separable hinge halves which are separated from each other during lifting of the door off the vehicle body by withdrawal of the hinge pin, so that one hinge half remains in one of the parts of a door assembly, the door and the door pillar, and another hinge half remains in another part of the door assembly. However, the use of this door hinge presents certain difficulties, in particular during the second mounting of the door on the vehicle body. One of the difficulties consists in that it is rather difficult to align the gudgeon of the door hinge half with the gudgeon of the door pillar door half. Another difficulty consists in that it is difficult to again insert the hinge pin in both gudgeons in its initially aligned position. However, the insertion of the hinge pin in both gudgeons in its initial exact position is absolutely necessary. This is because the hinge half, in which the hinge pin extends with a running fit, has usually a bearing sleeve formed of a maintenance-free bearing material located in its gudgeon bore, and the bearing material is usually relatively soft, so that even with a small tilting of the hinge pin, the bearing sleeve can be damaged and this can make the bearing sleeve useless.
These difficulties are particularly noticeable in door hinges in which the hinge half, in which the hinge pin is located without the possibility of rotation relative to this hinge half, is formed of a sheet metal. The gudgeon of such a hinge half has a small height and does not provide an adequate guidance for the hinge pin during its insertion. With such door hinges, it is further particularly important that the withdrawal and insertion forces applied to the hinge pin be as equal as possible. For insuring the exact aligned position of the hinge pin during its reinsertion, care should be taken that the hinge pin, during its first insertion, performed a certain embossing of the gudgeon. While different door hinges for motor vehicles are essentially identical, except, of course, manufacturing tolerances, it is still important that during the second mounting of the door, the original hinge pin be used.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a separable door hinge of the type described above and, in particular, a separable door hinge one hinge half of which is formed as a sheet metal stamped part and which is formed as a pre-assembled unit with a hinge pin that cannot be lost.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a separable door hinge of the above-described type in which exact guidance and retaining of the hinge pin is insured in each of its positions, namely, in separation and connection positions, which insure that the same forces are applied to the hinge pin during both the withdrawal of the hinge pin and the insertion of the hinge pin.